
The Pentagon has suspended contract negotiations with Lockheed Martin [LMT] on a Performance-Based Logistics (PBL) contract for the F-35 fighter, but DoD acquisition chief William LaPlante suggested on Dec. 12 that those talks may resume. The suspension means that the F-35 program's goal of awarding a multi-year PBL contract to Lockheed Martin this year will not happen. Through the PBL, DoD has looked to incentivize the meeting of goals for the F-35 for Gross Issue Effectiveness (GIE) and Supplier Response…